Impact of narcolepsy on sleep. The total time someone with narcolepsy spends sleeping is not necessarily different from that of people who do not have the ...SkiptomaincontentHomeHealthAtoZNarcolepsyBacktoNarcolepsyCauses-NarcolepsyContentsOverviewSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentMany casesofnarcolepsyarethoughttobecausedby alackofabrainchemicalcalledhypocretin (alsoknownasorexin),whichregulatessleep.Thedeficiencyisthoughttobetheresultoftheimmunesystemmistakenlyattackingpartsofthebrainthatproduce hypocretin.Butalackofhypocretinisnotthecauseinallcases.ImmunesystemproblemNormally,antibodiesarereleasedbythebody todestroydisease-carryingorganismsandtoxins. Whenantibodiesmistakenlyattackhealthycellsandtissue,it'sknownasanautoimmuneresponse.In2010,scientistsinSwitzerlanddiscoveredthat somepeoplewithnarcolepsyproduceantibodiesagainstaproteincalledtrib2.Trib2isproducedbyanareaofthebrainthatalsoproduceshypocretin.Thisresultsinalackofhypocretin, whichmeansthebrainisless abletoregulatesleepcycles.Theseresearchresultsmayhelpexplainthe causeofnarcolepsyinmanycases,butitdoesnotexplainwhysomepeoplewiththeconditionstillproducenear-normallevelsofhypocretin.PossibletriggersA numberoffactorsmayincreaseaperson'sriskofnarcolepsyorcauseanautoimmuneproblem.Theseinclude:aninheritedgeneticfaulthormonalchanges,includingthosethattakeplaceduringpubertyorthemenopausemajorpsychologicalstressasuddenchangeinsleeppatternsaninfection,suchas swinefluorastreptococcalinfectionhavingthefluvaccinePandemrixResearchisyettoconfirmwhetherall oftheseplayaroleinnarcolepsy.PandemrixvaccineResearchcarriedoutin2013foundanassociationbetweenthefluvaccine,Pandemrix,whichwasusedduringtheswinefluepidemicof2009-10,andnarcolepsyinchildren.Therisk isverysmall,withthechanceofdevelopingnarcolepsyafterhavingadoseofthevaccineestimatedtobearound 1in52,000.ButPandemrixisnolongerusedintheUKforfluvaccination.ImpactofnarcolepsyonsleepThetotaltimesomeonewithnarcolepsyspendssleepingisnotnecessarilydifferent fromthatofpeople whodonot